Who's interested in a community project?
Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 7:17 pm
Sometime ago, I started posting water warfare first person shooter mock-up pictures, though it hasn't been carried that far and most of the pictures are scathered so I'll have to really dig through to find them. However, at the time, DX mentioned that he had thought of, or was interested in creating a water warfare first person shooter using Game Maker. Being the ambition it was, it was dropped later due to lack of time. (And I doubt it could be done by just one person.)
Well, recently, I've been convinced somewhat that creating a water warfare FPS is indeed not impossible. One of my friends is majoring in computer science with a focus on game design, and after some discussion with him, he wants to use the Unreal 3 engine, though he hasn't figured it out too far yet and I probably won't ever be able to either. I would take on a different role; graphics, which I actually have a decent chance of doing well on.
After seeing Game Maker, I'm a bit weary on what it can do. It doesn't appear to be very specialized for 3D and 3D games on there seem to be very unoptimized, along with lacking mipmapping, shaders, and other 3D features. I'd like to get a little more advanced than just a Doom-style shooter, having at least a DirectX 9 engine (after all, Super Soaker Championship uses shaders for the water), and simulating as many features of water warfare as possible. I'm talking about customizable characters with traits like pumping/refilling proficiency, water balloon throwing skill, dodging, etc. (Specifically what I had in mind was like The Sims' personality control system: you have a set of traits each with a rating and you can assign a limited number of points to adjust those ratings.) However at this point it's getting ambitious and not worth going into yet.
Is anyone in the community interested in this? Anyone with even a little programming experience may be able to help, but other skills, such as photoshop or audio would be helpful too. Even things like water gun stats (which I plan to discuss with iSoaker later, but implementing the fluid physics will require a ton of outside help which I simply can't do but my friend says he can implement them with relative ease.) Some other concerns I have would be AI and net code. I was thinking open source would be the best way to go for this but right now I'm only just bubbling ideas around. Nothing is really happening yet.
I think if we really go for this and can get enough people in, we could create something quite fun. Then again, I may just be fantasizing on something that simply can't happen. But if it can, think of the implications it could have on the community as a whole, if we're able to create something more than just Super Soaker Championship or that lame WiiWare game that they just had to call Water Warfare. A water warfare FPS has a lot of potential to produce very unique gameplay features uncommon to the overdone blood-on-the-screen "modern warfare" style shooter where you carry some kind of M4 SOPMOD. Those who have played Gears of War or Covie Slayer on the Reach Beta should know what I mean; fast CQB gameplay with lots of fast dodging and shooting.
For now, this thread is just to gather interest. If this is to have any chance of taking off, we need an online system for exchanging builds, assets, documentation, and all that good stuff. I can't do this alone because if I do, I'll end up with just another half-assed shooter that's not worth playing (if I can even get that far).
Well, recently, I've been convinced somewhat that creating a water warfare FPS is indeed not impossible. One of my friends is majoring in computer science with a focus on game design, and after some discussion with him, he wants to use the Unreal 3 engine, though he hasn't figured it out too far yet and I probably won't ever be able to either. I would take on a different role; graphics, which I actually have a decent chance of doing well on.
After seeing Game Maker, I'm a bit weary on what it can do. It doesn't appear to be very specialized for 3D and 3D games on there seem to be very unoptimized, along with lacking mipmapping, shaders, and other 3D features. I'd like to get a little more advanced than just a Doom-style shooter, having at least a DirectX 9 engine (after all, Super Soaker Championship uses shaders for the water), and simulating as many features of water warfare as possible. I'm talking about customizable characters with traits like pumping/refilling proficiency, water balloon throwing skill, dodging, etc. (Specifically what I had in mind was like The Sims' personality control system: you have a set of traits each with a rating and you can assign a limited number of points to adjust those ratings.) However at this point it's getting ambitious and not worth going into yet.
Is anyone in the community interested in this? Anyone with even a little programming experience may be able to help, but other skills, such as photoshop or audio would be helpful too. Even things like water gun stats (which I plan to discuss with iSoaker later, but implementing the fluid physics will require a ton of outside help which I simply can't do but my friend says he can implement them with relative ease.) Some other concerns I have would be AI and net code. I was thinking open source would be the best way to go for this but right now I'm only just bubbling ideas around. Nothing is really happening yet.
I think if we really go for this and can get enough people in, we could create something quite fun. Then again, I may just be fantasizing on something that simply can't happen. But if it can, think of the implications it could have on the community as a whole, if we're able to create something more than just Super Soaker Championship or that lame WiiWare game that they just had to call Water Warfare. A water warfare FPS has a lot of potential to produce very unique gameplay features uncommon to the overdone blood-on-the-screen "modern warfare" style shooter where you carry some kind of M4 SOPMOD. Those who have played Gears of War or Covie Slayer on the Reach Beta should know what I mean; fast CQB gameplay with lots of fast dodging and shooting.
For now, this thread is just to gather interest. If this is to have any chance of taking off, we need an online system for exchanging builds, assets, documentation, and all that good stuff. I can't do this alone because if I do, I'll end up with just another half-assed shooter that's not worth playing (if I can even get that far).